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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up (Hardcover, 2014, Ten Speed Press) 3 stars

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes …

The philosophy of tiding

4 stars

Having read one of Marie Kondo's books previously and having watched her series on Netflix a lot of the content mentioned in this book was not new. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up focused on her history from a young child and how her passion has existed since a young age. What will be reassuring for many is the use of her own mistakes which can reassure you that an expert in the field of tiding makes mistakes and has since learnt from them. This could support people who may feel overwhelmed before, during or after the tiding process. The book is an easy listen and broken into 30 minute chapters at most making it easy to delve into. There are times during the book where I question her methods and I think that is perfectly fine. The overarching ideology is treating your belongings with respect and care. This is most likely why she suggests socks shouldn't be bundled (as it could stretch the elastic) or not leaving bags filled. Likewise our houses are often filled with items, but how many of them make us smile when we wear it or use it. This is where she refers to the 'does it spark joy' term. This helps us to appreciate what we have. As with any book there are elements you may wish to incorporate and disregard. What may reassure many is the fact that tiding up is not a daily chore but something that will become 'second nature' once a system has been organised. Finally I found it interesting that she mentioned how the health of her clients tended to improve after decluttering, sort of like a weight had been lifted. Perhaps once a declutter has started you look elsewhere on how to improve your lifestyle?